Rockies All-Star closer Greg Holland (1-1, 1.62 ERA) suffered his first loss in a Rockies uniform Saturday night. On in a tie game, the MLB saves leader surrendered a ninth-inning home run in a 5-4 defeat to the Chicago White Sox. It is only the second home run Holland has allowed over 33.1 innings pitched this season, and the second by Tim Anderson in as many nights.
Holland was in to pitch the ninth inning after Colorado scored a run off Tommy Kahnle (1-3, 2.65) in the eighth to tie the game at four. The White Sox jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the first inning and stayed in front by at least a run all game until Mark Reynolds tripled and Gerardo Parra drove him in to level things heading to the ninth. Parra also had a double in the sixth inning to drive in DJ LeMahieu in the sixth to bring Colorado to within one.
Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman allowed a pair of triples, a walk and a single in the game’s opening frame to put the White Sox up 3-0 early. Nolan Arenado responded with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning off Jose Quintana to keep things within one. Quintana had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to help his own cause.
The Rockies and White Sox play their final game before the All-Star break on Sunday to decide the series. Colorado’s 51 wins are the most before the All-Star break in franchise history, however, the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers and persistent Arizona Diamondbacks each sit above Colorado in the National League West standings. Kyle Freeland (8-7, 4.09) will try and grab the rubber match of the series for Colorado. Carlos Rodon (1-1, 1.59) will be on the mound for Chicago.
